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The United Systems Army
"I grew up in the factories of Mars, toiled building the great machines which provide life to countess billions across the United Systems. I thought I was doing good work then, but it pales in comparison to what I have done as a soldier. When you lift up your SAR beside your comrades, you are doing so much more than shooting at the aliens. You are defending every single man, woman, and child in the United Systems. When you raise your battle standard high, you honor ten thousand years of recorded history. Stand tall, soldiers of the United Systems, for you are the bulwark of man against the darkness that threatens us" - Excerpt from the speech given by Julian Markus Rostov upon his promotion to Commander-in-Chief of the United Systems Military. Overview In the 34th Century, battles take place across entire star-systems, embroiling massive armies in the bloodshed. Where the Brakians or Avarians find their numbers faltering in such massive endeavors, the United Systems crashes into them like a tidal wave. The aliens may bring to bear terrifying weapons and dark sciences, but the United Systems Army fills the air with enough munitions to lay low the greatest of foes. Every world within the United Systems is required to have at least two standing armies of two million men and women at arms to defend their worlds, but many raise both greater numbers of armies and greater numbers of soldiers to fight in Mankind's wars abroad. Some, mostly Gas Giants with huge numbers of densely populated moons, supply truly massive numbers of soldiers. The Jovian Moons of the Sol System alone donate a hundred million soldiers every Earth-Standard Year to the United Systems Military and worlds closer to the borders supply even more. Origins In the mid-21st Century, the combined armies of the United States, European Union, and India invaded and destroyed a young alien civilization on Saturn's moon of Titan, before allowing United Nations diplomats to properly greet the aliens. In response, the UN Security Council voted 10 to 5 to strip offworld military authority away from member nations, and replace them with a singular United Nations colonial army, designated the United Nations Colonial Peacekeeping Force. After Earth was reunified during the 2nd Great Ash War, UNCPF troops were directed to reclaim the rebelling colonies, and did so with grim determination, hardened by nearly eight years of vicious warfare back on Earth. Fielding every piece of military hardware that could be scrounged from the shattered armies of Earth, the UNCPF subjugated the Socialist Republics of Mars, and, alongside the loyal Jovians, smashed aside the legions of the Saturnine Colonies. Following the 2nd Great Ash War, the UNCPF was the only effective military and police force in the extra-solar colonies for the six decades between the end of the 2nd Great Ash War and the foundation of the United Systems in 2130CE. Upon the adoption of the United Systems Charter, the United Nations Colonial Peacekeeping Force was retooled into what is now the modern United Systems Military. Members of the United Systems, like the United Nations before it, agreed to donate either a portion of their military forces or a substantial amount of money to the Grand Congress to serve as the military of the union. Organization The highest officer in the United Systems Military is the Commander of the Armies, a position which can only be granted by a vote in the Grand Congress and Council of Chancellors. The Commander of the Armies has near total control over the armed forces of the United Systems, from the lowliest militia battalion to the largest campaigning armies. The current Commander of the Armies is the Martian-born Julian Markus, a 300 year old career soldier who is kept alive through an experimental life-support exoskeleton. Beneath the Commander of the Armies are the Councillor Generals, a collection of seasoned officers, each in command of not armies, but frontlines. While there are only five established fronts, there are 8 Councillor Generals, divided up. Three oversee the Western Extended Front against the Zel'gan Noctoru, two manage the Eastern Extended Front against the Brakians, and the other three handle the Draconian Expanse, the Serpentia Cascade, and the Gaian Front. Beneath the Fronts, and constituting the largest true operational unit within the United Systems Military, are the Sections, headed by Section Commanders. A Front will number between three an twenty Sections, with their commanders given objectives for campaigns. It is often that Section Commanders, not Councillor Generals, do the majority of the planning before campaigns are launched.